Obesity Crisis Even More Scary

This morning/evening (depending on where you are) – The Independent has reported on a Government paper, due to be published this week, stating that by 2010 more than 14 million people in the UK (from toddlers to pensioners) will be dangerously overweight.

That is a lot of people (nearly a third of the UK population) and to be quite honest – it’s a bit scary. The report apparently says that it is our own fault because we eat too much crap and do not get off our asses enough and I have to say I agree. While there are always people who have problems which go beyond just food and exercise – this rapid increase in obesity is predominantly lifestyle based. There is just no hiding from that.

The report highlights that these figures show that the government is going to miss it’s targets for halting obesity in the under-11 age bracket, but that is hardly surprising as I have not seen them do anything to halt this trend apart from to release statements saying that it is our own problem and we have to deal with it ourselves. While to some degree this is true – the government cannot cook our meals for us and get us out of bed in the morning for a run – I can’t help but feel that they could be doing more to instigate initiatives and also take a stronger approach to food manufacturers who are selling unhealthy, sugar-laden foods as healthy and absurdly sugar and chemical filled drinks as diet/kids drinks.

The BBC.co.uk again got their reporting spot on last week on this matter – when they stated that:

The increase in childhood obesity is being caused by addiction to “toxic”, sugar-filled manufactured foods.

Some key statistics that caught my eye from the Independant were:

• Since 2003, obesity will have risen by around 38 per cent in adults. By 2010, 22 per cent of girls and 19 per cent of boys between the ages of two and 15 will be chronically overweight
• The figures show that there will be 1.7 million obese children by 2010 and almost 13 million obese adults.
• Obesity costs the NHS £1bn a year and the nation £7bn a year
• In 2003, 747,000 boys and 676,000 girls aged between two and 15 were obese. Among obese boys, a higher number lived in middle-class households than in manual households. However, by 2010 the trend will be reversed. An estimated 462,000 boys in working-class households and 345,000 boys in middle-class households will be classified as obese.

Look – this is scaring the **** out of me – and it should be scaring you too. It really is time that we all took responsibility and did something about this.